Father: Deer Shooting By Officer Traumatized Boy

EAST LANSING (WWJ/AP) – A Michigan man says his 7-year-old son was traumatized and his car was hit with blood splatters when a police officer shot an injured deer that had been struck by a vehicle.

Mike Malott told the Lansing State Journal he was driving in East Lansing around 8 p.m. Tuesday with his windows down and his son in the front passenger seat. The East Lansing man said he didn’t notice the injured deer or police on the side of the road until he heard gunshots.

Malott said he then saw blood splatters on the inside of his windshield and blood on the outside of his car.

“The police officer unloaded a whole clip into the deer,” he said. “A bullet fragment could have easily ricocheted from the animal and struck my son, who I’m most concerned about.”

East Lansing police Capt. Kim Johnson said a patrolman obtained permission from a supervisor to kill the injured animal before shooting. Johnson said the department will interview the officers involved and review video of the shooting to assess what occurred.

At the time of the shooting, Malott said several vehicles were behind him and others were heading in the other direction on the road.

“I don’t want an animal suffering, but the fact that they did this when traffic was going in both directions, obviously there’s a danger there,” Malott said.

I think the bigger danger was a 7 year old kid riding in the front seat instead of in the rear in a booster seat (law?). He should have get a ticket. Also, were the windows down because dad was puffing on a cigarette while driving with a kid in the car?

»The police officer unloaded a whole clip into the deer, he said. A bullet fragment could have easily ricocheted from the animal and struck my son«

-Um, the officer was shooting DOWNWARD INTO A HIGH DENSITY OBJECT!!! After absorbing the initial impact HOW in the heck is a foward high velocity moving projectile going to change it’s angle so radically that it is now travelling *UP* and AWAY let alone the distant of about 30ft from the median to the path of vehicles!?! Ricochetting off a solid object (sidewalk), yes…ricochetting off water (deer), NO!
»…who Im most concerned about..«

»Mike Malott told…he was driving…with his windows down and his son in the front passenger seat«
-If you’re SO concerned about his safety, why did you have your 7yr old child ILLEGALLY sitting in the front seat, window down (odds of his child thrown out that window is greater than a bullet ricochetting up and out of a downed deer), and publically admitting so instead of in the back seat in a safety-approved booster?!!?

Besides the kid in the front seat without a booster…Did anyone notice that he said “he didn’t notice the injured deer or police on the side of the road until he heard gunshots.” and “then saw blood splatters on the inside of his windshield and blood on the outside of his car”. My thought is if he was close enought to get blood on his car from that then why didn’t he see the cops standing there, or the cop car on the side of the road. If he did not see those things then maybe he shouldn’t be driving in the first place. One of the first things you learn when you get your license is to pay attention to your surroundings, which he was not doing!!!!